Carl Vertrees

Ginger and I have never had the same love affair with cell phones that many Americans have, especially the younger generation.

Although we embraced a home computer fairly early in that iteration — about 1998 — we balked at the cell phone craze, even though our daughters urged us to subscribe.

It wasn’t until 2004 that we capitulated. We were on a summer vacation in Washington State when Ginger’s mother fell and broke her hip while in a Redmond assisted living home. No one could reach us.

We had given a sketchy itinerary to our daughters, so when we arrived at a motel in Anacortes that afternoon, we had an urgent message to call family.

After receiving another admonishment that “if you had had a cell phone …” We agreed, cut short our vacation and returned to Redmond.

We’ve had several cell phones, starting with a flip phone, but never more than one at a time. Just as we share email and a computer, one cell phone serves us satisfactorily.

Although we’re good about taking the phone with us when we travel, we frequently leave it on the kitchen counter when we’re out and about in Central Oregon. It doesn’t interrupt us that way, and we’re not tempted to use it while driving. We’ll likely never know if we’re driving through a dead spot without cell service.

We also cling to our landline. We’re part of the 25% minority in this country who still has that connection. We have five landline phones throughout our home, so it’s easy to answer quickly and not to question where had we left the phone!

Statisticians tell us cell phones are overwhelmingly the norm, that only 1 percent of all households have only a landline.

Although not addicted, we do appreciate our cell phone, especially when we travel. We do make and receive calls and texts from friends, family — and scammers. We also appreciate that those long-distance calls do not generate extra charges, even if we’re out of country in Canada or Mexico.

Long-distance charges. Have they gone the way of the dodo bird? Do party lines still exist? When we moved to Redmond in 1975 United Telephone provided us a two-party line shared with a family down the street. We wondered why we could never reach the Halsteads. Their line was always busy!

In hindsight we wonder what kind of parents we might have been if cell phones had been prevalent when our daughters were in school. They probably would not have received cell phones too early on, but how stubborn might we have been?

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I’ve been part of the Redmond Kiwanis Vintner’s Dinner and Auction almost since its inception in 2004 when about 50 patrons gathered at Eagle Crest for a 5-course meal paired with wines from Eola Hills Winery.

The event has grown immensely. This year’s 18th annual event is a sell-out a month and a half before the May 17 event. If you procrastinated about buying tickets, it’s too late. Two hundred wine afficionados will gather at St. Thomas Catholic Church for the dinner and auction featuring wines from Waterbrook Winery in Walla Walla.

We call it a celebration of good food, good wine and community service.

For the second of three years the major beneficiary will be the natural playground to be built adjacent to the new Redmond Area Park and Recreation District pool and recreation center. Kirby Nagelhout Construction, the general contractor on that facility, has stepped forward as our presenting sponsor.

As successful as the event has been, we’re still striving to have the drawing power of the much younger Redmond Crab Crack which is traditionally a sell-out the first day the tickets go on sale. Maybe next year.